Alternate day fasting

For weight loss and heart disease risk reduction

Krista Varady, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Nutrition
University of Illinois, Chicago
Most commonly used weight loss intervention:
Calorie restriction (CR)
 Problem with calorie restriction:
Dietary adherence begins to decline after 8 weeks
How can we increase adherence to calorie
restriction to ensure consistent weight loss?
Perhaps by only requiring calorie restriction
every other day?

Day of ad libitum feeding Day of 75% restriction

 Alternate day fasting (ADF)

Feed day Fast day

Day of ad libitum feeding Day of 75% restriction
In this way, the person always gets to look forward
to the next day of eating anything they want

Fast day Feed day

 Pilot study findings:
ADF is a viable option for weight loss in obese adults

-5.6 kg

Varady KA et al, AJCN. 2009.

 Lean mass is retained during ADF

All values reported as mean SEM.

* Significantly different from baseline (week 3), P < 0.05 (One-factor ANOVA with Bonferroni analysis)

Bhutani et al, Obesity. 2010.

Subjects do not overeat on the feed days

Feed day intake:

110% of needs

Klempel MC et al, Nutr J. 2010.

Hunger on the fast day decreases during the trial

Klempel MC et al, Nutr J. 2010.

Plasma lipids decrease with ADF

Klempel MC et al, Metab. 2013.

 Acknowledgements
Many thanks to my students Faculty

Surabhi Bhutani (PhD Student) Dr. Shane Phillips

Monica Klempel (PhD Student) Dr. Daniel Corcos
John Trepanowski (PhD Student) Dr. Carol Braunschweig
Cynthia Kroeger (PhD Student) Dr. Eric Ravussin
Kristin Hoddy (PhD Student) Dr. Sally Freels
Adrienne Barnosky (Postdoc) Dr. Marian Fitzgibbon

Funding

NIH (NHLBI) R01HL106228-01

AHA 09SDG2170077 and 12PRE8350000
ILSI (Future Leader Award)
University of Illinois, Discovery Fund